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SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Millions of medically vulnerable Texans need health |
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care but have neither insurance nor personal funds to cover the |
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cost; and |
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WHEREAS, Texas Medicaid was created to help the medically |
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vulnerable, but the huge cost of the federal health care |
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bureaucracy reduces the ability of the program to provide in a |
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timely manner the services and goods mandated by the federal |
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government; and |
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WHEREAS, Funding deficiencies also cause Texas Medicaid to |
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fail the provider community, including individuals and |
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institutions, by offering less than adequate recompense for the |
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services and goods they supply; Medicaid reimbursement rates are |
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below the cost of doing business for most providers, and as a |
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result, more than 30 percent of Texas physicians cannot afford to |
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take care of Medicaid enrollees; and |
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WHEREAS, In recent years, the federally mandated expansion of |
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Medicaid benefits has caused reimbursement rates to plummet |
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further, even as the number of Medicaid-covered patients has risen; |
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consequently, wait times for appointments have lengthened |
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dramatically; a study conducted by Illinois Medicaid found that |
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delays in care for Medicaid patients had resulted in unnecessary |
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deaths; and |
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WHEREAS, Medicaid is the largest single-cost item in the |
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Texas state budget, accounting for 30 percent of all spending; it |
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consumes financial resources that are sorely needed to support |
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other programs, including foster care, education, job training, |
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border security, and infrastructure; and |
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WHEREAS, The original Medicaid legislation of 1965 clearly |
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specified that Medicaid programs would be jointly funded by state |
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and federal governments and administered by the states; this |
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framework is in keeping with the intent of the founding fathers in |
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that it allows states to use their superior knowledge of the needs |
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of their residents and how best to expend the resources necessary to |
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regulate, administer, and control their own programs; states are |
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better positioned than the federal government to innovate and |
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compete, and they can take advantage of the laboratory of ideas to |
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provide superior alternatives to existing delivery systems; |
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nevertheless, today, Washington, D.C., bureaucrats at the Centers |
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for Medicare and Medicaid Services have decision-making power over |
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factors that drive costs in Texas, among them eligibility |
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standards, verification processes, compliance oversight, and |
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benefit packages; although Texas has received federal approval of a |
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Medicaid 1115 Waiver, which grants some additional flexibility, |
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this does not address the root cause of problems created by the lack |
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of state control; and |
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WHEREAS, When it expanded Medicaid eligibility, the federal |
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government promised greater access to health care, but medically |
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vulnerable residents of Texas have experienced cruel |
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disillusionment; without real control over the administration of |
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its own Medicaid program, Texas cannot address the problems that |
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arise in the delivery of required services with limited funds, and |
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the state cannot properly balance its priorities and discharge its |
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responsibilities to its citizens; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to uphold the |
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original intent of the 1965 Medicaid law to maintain a jointly |
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funded, state-administered program by continuing joint funding of |
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Texas Medicaid under the current Federal Medical Assistance |
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Percentages program while transferring the administration, |
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control, and compliance oversight of all aspects and components of |
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the Texas Medicaid program from the Centers for Medicare and |
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Medicaid Services in Washington to the State of Texas; and, be it |
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further |
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RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official |
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copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to |
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the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of |
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Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the |
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members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that |
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this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a |
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memorial to the Congress of the United States of America. |